They want to kill cats because of bird deaths but guess what - men kill more birds than cats ever can

When the Wisconsin DNR wanted to have a hunting season on cats their favorite argument was that junk science study produced by the hunting crowd that overpopulates the science departments of the University of Wisconsin.

You remember the one that said feral cats kill hundreds of thousands of songbirds annually.

Since that time, commercial interest are lobbying for permission to built wind generators next to the Horicon Marsh, a Bird Sanctuary. Suddenly bird kills are really not that important compared to all that income the utility companies will harvest with those big blades.Wind energy makes profits for the utility companies whereas solar energy cannot bring in that monthly tax as easily. So the utility companies are pushing wind mills as the best "clean" energy for Wisconsin.

In early September, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin affirmed itsapproval of a large wind-farm just east of Horicon National Wildlife Refuge whenit denied a petition for rehearing.

The wind turbine project has beenthe source of controversy in the area for many months because of its potentialthreat to wildlife and its proximity to the Horicon Marsh. The turbines may nowbe constructed as close as two miles from the marsh, an Ramsar wetland ofinternational significance.

The project area will cover 32,400 acres,consisting predominately of farmland. Horicon Marsh System Advocates (HMSA), alocal group, had filed a petition on 3 August with the commission, citingconcerns about the impacts on wildlife at the nearby Horicon Marsh.

Other organizations had joined HMSA in expressing opposition to theproject, including the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the AudubonSociety, and the American Bird Conservancy. This case has been watched closelysince it pits rival conservation forces in contention, ostensibly "clean energy"vs. "safe wildlife."

Nevertheless, those who tried to have the projectphysically pushed back - closer to four or five miles from the marsh - were notopposed to wind power per se, but stressed the potential damage of closeproximity (e.g. to waterfowl and cranes using the fields close to the marsh).

When the governor, Jim Doyle, would not intervene, the Public ServiceCommission rejected the appeal. Local opposition, however, continues to bestrong, and more legal battles are in play. At the same time, a GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) study released mid-month stated that wind power doesnot appear to be responsible for a significant number of bird deaths in thecontext of other sources of avian mortality.

Yet, findings in the GAOstudy also suggested that some state and local officials may not have theexpertise necessary to determine whether a proposed wind farm would harmwildlife. The report recommended that federal officials take a more active rolein assisting state and local officials to analyze the impacts of bird and batdeaths caused by wind turbines.

"We're effectively setting up a crane Cuisinart, because birds haven't evolved to fly through a dense, high-speed development like this one," said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, which lobbies on behalf of the refuges.

Some of the turbines of the 200- megawatt project could be within two miles of the border of the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, a refuge that was named by the National Wildlife Refuge Association as one of the nation's six most threatened refuges.

There were birds all over the place," said Steven Ugoretz, a DNR environmental specialist who works on tower-related issues.

Searchers found 172 birds around the base of the 1,100-foot tower.

Crows, cats and other scavengers took another 200 or more, and Ugoretz estimates more birds likely died because no one searched a heavily wooded area just north of the tower.

A similar kill occurred the night of Sept. 7-8, Ugoretz said.

Such kills are not unusual during spring and fall migrations, though Ugoretz and Matteson said they are an increasing concern because of multiple threats to the world's songbirds. Most of the dead birds Sept. 14 were warblers.Other birds included red-eyed vireos,American redstarts,ovenbirds,common yellowthroatsand a rose-breasted grosbeak.

Matteson and Ugoretz said they want to form a task force of bird experts and communications industry representatives to study the issue. (Greenconsciousness Notes: Notice they have formed a committee composed of the killers and profiteers to solve a problem they have known about for years but only want to solve when it became known to the public)Possible solutions include using lights to illuminate wires and changing the blinking frequency of red warning lights, Matteson said.

A telephone message left for WMTV's general manager was not immediately returned Wednesday_____________________________________________________________

If any of you would like to take action about the 400+ song birds killed by the Channel 15 television tower (in Madison), here's a web page that is collecting suggestions for ways to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future.

6 Comments:

Those wind turbines are pretty decimating to the bat population as well. I'm all for "clean energy", but I don't know why we have to fight so hard to have a little common sense employed when it comes to protecting wildlife.

"men kill more birds than cats ever can"That is true, yes. It does not excuse those humans responsible for feral cats killing an estimated one billion birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians each year.

Wind turbines kill migrating songbirds, so do other forms of energy production. Ferel cats are big killers especially in nesting season. Cats were brought over by humans as well as other invasive species.I have three cats and I know the damage they can do so I keep them indoors or limit their time outdoors. A ferel cat destroyed every nest on the smaller trees and killed ALL of our tree frogs. Songbird population is rapidly declining many will go extinct soon. No shortage of cats. The way of nature is balance.--Jack

I would add that humans are the greatest destroyer of nature. When the natural balance is destroyed humans will also become extict because we are a part of the rest of the world and need it to survive.An Energy solution: Use less (jack)

On WPR today I heard an expert saying that the giant wind turbine Wisconsin built right in the middle of a bird migratory pathway next to Horicon Marsh - those turbines are killing an astonishingly large numbers of birds.

So I give them a fenced back yard. -- I feel they have a right to nature as much as any living thing - a house is not the same as being outside and i grow catnip in the yard and there are the grasses they like to eat to throw up the hairballs. -- i make a bird sanctuary in the front yard and plant the bee balm and milkweed for the pollinators there. Yes they kill all chipmunks and mice who come in the yard. I do what I can to interfere. At the top of my blog is a link to the story of building the cat sanctuary fence:it says; click here cats are safe outside at last

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